1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a removable ski rack for motor vehicles and more particularly to ski rack which enables the user to maintain a pair of first straps in the mounted position on the roof of a motor vehicle while being able to easily attach and detach a second strap onto the first strap. The second strap which is readily removable contains a plurality of ski holders attached thereto. Thus, the present invention device enables one to remove ski holders and second strap from the roof to lock them in the trunk or inside the car to avoid theft and/or to otherwise protect the ski holders.
2. Prior Art Statement
Prior Art ski carriers have been designed which secure skis to a ski racket or bracket device which is mounted on the roof of a vehicle. Such ski racks generally are either semipermanent in nature, i.e., they require a substantial amount of mechanical work and, very often, tools, to be mounted or removed from the roof of the motor vehicle and are relatively heavy and expensive to manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,138 issued to H. William Kirschner, describes a carrying rack for skis which includes a cord type of base which runs through a series of bolsters which are adapted to hold skis. This device is attached to the vehicle by clamping devices and is removable. However, unlike the device of the present invention, it must be reclamped each time it is put back onto the roof of the auto or other vehicle and all of the bolsters which receive the skis must be uprighted and aligned properly. In addition, this device does not afford the type of strength that may be achieved with the present invention and it does not allow for quick removal of the device as well as quick reattachment of the device.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,469,260; 4,438,878; 4,048,700 and 3,848,785 issued to Delahanty, Heslop, Browne and Bott respectively, appear to represent the state of the art in ski racks. These variously show different types of attachment/detachment mechanisms and ski supporting devices. Of these, U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,785 shows a device which is removable in part from a base support number but, unlike the present invention, requires force of a different nature and the use of tools, e.g. a screwdriver. Additionally, the device which is removed from the base appears to be considerably heavy and of a solid rather than flexible or semiflexible structure.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,470,528; 4,456,284; 4,120,437 and 3,994,048 issued respectively to Dyess, Saka, Hara and Rosenthal all teach various carrying devices for transporting skis and/or ski poles wherein the skis are bound by use of Velcro.RTM.-type fasteners. The present invention involves a removable ski rack for motor vehicles which includes a pair of vehicle mounting devices and a pair of ski holder devices along with a plurality of ski holders. The pair of vehicle mounting devices each includes a first strap which is long enough to cross over the width of a motor vehicle roof with roof fasteners attached to each end of that stap so that both ends can be secured to the vehicle. In addition, this first strap has a first set of VELCRO.RTM.-type filamentary fastening members located on at least a portion of its top. The pair of ski holder mounting devices each includes a second strap which has a second and opposite set of the VELCRO.RTM.-type filamentary type fastening members located on at least a portion of the bottom and situated so as to correspond to the VELCRO.RTM.-type filamentary fastening members that are located on the top of the first strap. The plurality of ski holders are located on the top of each of the ski holder mounting devices and include ski locking mechanisms so as to detachably lock skis into the ski holders. VELCRO.RTM. is a registered trademark of VELCRO Corp., New York, N.Y. However, none of these show the configuration or specific arrangement described or claimed in the present invention with respect to the fastening of the skis and/or poles to the ski rack of the present invention and none of these references teach or suggest the use of Velcro.RTM. for physically attaching a ski rack to a strap on the roof of a motor vehicle.